99(i 



SCANDINAVIAN I'lSIIES. 



full of roe off Soutliport (Lancashire) on the 9th June, 

 1878°. The actual course of the spawuinfr has not yet 

 heeii observed; but the eggs, which are easily distin- 

 guished from the more or less spherical ova of other 

 fishes by their ellipsoidal form, and which measure 

 O'T' — To' mm., have been found on several occasions. 

 Ehrenbaum met with them in large numbers at the 

 beginning of June at the surface and in open water 

 9 — 10 fathoms deep off the island of Norderney (East 

 Friesland). In the innermost parts of the Zuyder Zee 

 Anchovy-eggs have been found; but the actual s]>awn- 

 ing is probably performed in salt \\ater. According 

 to Wenkebach (Ehrenbaum), the ova are hatched in 

 three days. According to Hoffmann, the fry mea- 

 sure 32 — 55 mm. at the beginning of August, and 50 

 — 100 mm. at the beginning of September. A Dutch 

 Anchovy-salter stated too that in August and Septem- 

 ber such enormous ipiantities of young Anchovies 50 

 — 70 mm. long are often taken that they are salted 

 and consumed in the same way as the larger ones, in 

 spite of the fact that a firkin contains 8,000 — 10,000 

 of these small fish, whereas only 3,200 — 4,000 full- 

 grown Anchovies go to the barrel. Ehrenbalm is, how- 

 ever, of opinion that these small Anchovies belong to 

 tiie spawning of the preceding year'', and assumes that 

 larviv less than 3 cm. long grow very slowly during 

 their first winter and spring in the sea. If this opi- 

 nion is correct, tlie Anchovy does not attain sexual 

 maturity until its third year, wliicli we should else 

 date a year earlier. 



The food of the .\nchovy consists princii)ally of 

 CopepodcB, Mifsidce, and young shrimps. 



The Anchovy is taken partly in fine-meshed drift- 

 nets, sailing-seines, and shore-seines, ]«irtiy with hoop- 



nets and stationai-y engines, such as ri/ssjor (traps) etc. 

 In the Mediterranean the fishery is carried on chiefly by 

 torchlight, the glare enticing the Anchovies to the boat, 

 where the fisherman splashes in the water so as to 

 frighten tJicm into the meshes of the nets spi-ead round 

 about. Tiie value of the fishery is generally- nuich less 

 than that of the Pilchard-fishery; but the Anchovy 

 commands a higher price than the Pilchard, and in 

 certain places the Anchovy-fishery is consequently the 

 more valuable. The annual take of Anchovies on the 

 Palermo coast is stated' at 400,000 kilo., valued at the 

 same number of francs; while the Pilchard-fishery brings 

 in 600,000 kilo, of fish, but only 200,000 francs. In 

 France the take of Anchovies for 1881 was nearly 

 6,000,000 kilo., valued at rather more than 500,000 

 francs; whereas in 1882 the quantity fell to 1,500,000 

 kilo., but the price rose to somewhat over 700,000 

 francs^ Holland had an average annual export for 

 the years 1883 — 1890 of nearly 1,750,000 kilo, or 

 35,000 barrels of salt Anchovies, whicli fetched a price 

 per barrel of 8 — 78 Dutch guldens" (on an average, 

 according to Ehrenbaum, 20 — 30 guldens). 



The Anchovy is recommended not only l)y its 

 fleshiness and fatness, but also by its flavour, a pecu- 

 liar bitter taste, which combined with its saltness tick- 

 les the gourmand's palate and whets his appetite. This 

 bitterness, which becomes disagreeable unless the head 

 as well as the liver and intestine be removed before 

 salting, was prized l)y tlie Romans, to whom Anchovy 

 sauce {garum) was known. From this too the ancient 

 Greeks derived their name for the fish, a name which 

 the species still retains, oirniHii'Imhis (with the gall in 

 the head). 



" Both Day (1. c.) utid Olsen (Piscatovial Atlas), however, state that in English waters the Ancho%-}- spawns in aiidnnn, September 

 — December. 



' According to Wenkebach, Lpioted bj- Ehrenbaum. 



' According to Hoffman, quoted by Eheenbabm. 



'' On tlie assumption that a growth from 4 — 32 mm. is impossible during the interval between the end of the spawning-season aud 

 the beginning of August. But this growth is not so inconceivable from the beginning of the spawning-season. 



' Esposiz. intern, di Pesca, Berlino 1880, Sez. Ital., Catal., p. LXVII. 



/ Statislique des peches maritimea, 1882. pp. 235 and 237. 



" A Dutch gulden = Is. 8d. 



